PRODUCTION UPDATE

The last two months have flown by rapidly, but we’re excited as ever to bring you an update on the development progress of BEAUTIFUL DESOLATION.

We’ve increased our library of photo-scanned 3D objects (when time permits), and are planning a road trip that will entail the further scanning interesting objects and items to include in our desolate African landscapes.

One of the criticisms received is that our character models don’t match up (quality wise) to the background scenes. We have taken this to heart and I’ve honed my low poly modeling skills to produced awesome looking denizens to populate our world. I learnt many tricks and techniques from working with InXile and the pre-production work for Wasteland 3.

The animation rigs in Desolation are much more complicated (and pretty) than those of CAYNE, with cloth dynamics, moving hair, and specific ‘action points’ on the models, which allow for very cool game-play opportunities. I can’t wait to show you some of the animal creations, but I need to save something for our next update!

We’re trying to create a balance of technology with the sensibilities of a post apocalyptic African world. Creating a game that is clearly post apocalyptic – with a dose of fantasy and the tribalpunk aesthetic – is something that hasn’t been done often, so we’re pushing into new territory daily.

IS IT DONE YET?! 🙂

Nic is working on the vertical slice of Desolation. Essentially, this is a small playable area of the game that encompasses all of the enhancements and gameplay features that we want to include in the larger world. Once we’re satisfied that the vertical slice prototype is working we can extrapolate that over the rest of the game.

Perhaps one of the most daunting aspects of a game like Beautiful Desolation is the story itself. Setting a story in an existing world can be a challenge, but creating a world at the same time as telling a story is a huge task! We have a specific vision for Desolation – and we now have the freedom to see which ideas work and which don’t. The canvas is wide and there are no real limitations for us to constrain your creativity – this can be both exciting and terrifying.

No matter how much technology we have access to or how pretty we make the game – it all hangs on our story, so we’re taking the time to get this right!

I’m happy (read: relieved!) that we’ve completed the first draft outline – a bare skeleton to hang the flesh and bones of our world on. We also have a ‘world document’ detailing the history of the world, which gets updated simultaneously to the story document. Sounds cool, right? But obviously takes up those extra resources.

But we definitely think it’s crucial to create believable characters who’ve shared experiences in the world, much like history’s explorers.

It will also provide our writers with points of reference for the characters and aid them in creating the individual histories of our NPCs.